A Recurring Nightmare And A Trip Down Memory Lane
by Chlstarr
Summary: Mario wakes up from a nightmare that he has more often than any other dream, he doesn't want to wake his brother, so he mentally takes a trip down memory lane to think of other things to calm himself down. But is it enough for him to forget the one nightmare that recurs the most? Read to find out.


He woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb his brother in the bunk below him. Of all the nightmares that came to him the most, it just had to be that one.

Mario felt his throat tightening up as he recounted that horrible chapter in his life in his mind instead of the dream. A Duplighost, more powerful than most, easily stealing his name, his body, _everything_. His friends of that adventure didn't even notice the difference when the Duplighost pulled the ol' switcharoo… No, that wasn't necessarily true, they did take some notice, as the Duplighost tried to play off Mario's part a little too eagerly by becoming very vocal. Unfortunately, all of his friends at that point in the adventure were still new and were still getting to know him, thus they didn't know him very well at all and shrugged his sudden change in behavior off as if it were just a weird nervous tick. Then he was forced to fight his friends after he learned the Duplighost's real name, Doopliss. He'd never completely gotten over his friends betraying him like that… and he'd _never_ had so much taken away from him, so much that he'd started to question his very self. In the blink of an eye he'd gone from the famous Mushroom Kingdom champion to a nameless, friendless shadow, walking alone through the darkness…

If it weren't for Vivian, even when she doubted him after learning his true identity, he honestly didn't know what would have become of him. If Doopliss hadn't already planned to try and erase him in the first place, he probably would have gone out of his mind being trapped in Twilight Town, the road, and Creepy Steeple. Though he did always wonder why Doopliss didn't just leave when he had the chance…maybe that was why he needed to erase the shadow of the person he copied, the pipe would've rejected him because the name didn't wholly belong to him. What's in a name after all? But everything that makes up a person and what they're known by.

Still the mental image of those glowing red eyes and puff of purple smoke as the transformation happened was unsettling to this day. He knew it might be used against him someday since it was a deep fear of his now. Magic in this world was getting more and more unpredictable, who knows when some baddie with magic would use fear against people in a future adventure of his.

He honestly wouldn't know what to do with himself if such a thing happened to him, especially if it were a test of some sort. A test to overcome one's deepest fear. He didn't think he'd be able to overcome it, he wouldn't know how to. To lose… _ **everything**_ …it would be worse than having to start all over again in the Mushroom Kingdom itself, especially in the way he had almost lost everything.

Mario wondered, that if Doopliss was able to leave and actually left him alive, would he end up as a fairytale that was real?

He could already see it now…Once upon a time there was a lonely little shadow of a man. No one knew his name for he was forbidden to speak it due to a cursed placed on him. He wasn't always a shadow, but because of the curse and the fact that he was a mere shadow in a land forever bathed in a dark twilight, he was hardly noticeable nor could anyone figure out who he could have originally been. So the lonely little shadow remained anonymous for the remainder of his days, alone in the twilight.

A sad, made up tale his mind couldn't help but make, but it might as well have been his fate if things didn't happen the way they did. However, even Mario knew better than to ever assume that Fate and Destiny would ever be unkind to him. Fate's cogs began turning ever since he and his brother stepped foot in this world, there was no changing or denying the Destiny to constantly save the world that came with it, as he and his brother, Princess Peach and even Bowser would later save a bunch of worlds from the Chaos Heart and The Void it created. Or the times he and his brother and their past selves saved the world from the Shroobs in the past to ensure a safe future, or when Fawful made a comeback of comebacks and nearly destroyed the world with the power of the Darkstar that manifested in Bowser's likeness.

Funny how things work out by design, as the Void adventure was the second time ever that Bowser had to play good guy and join Mario's party. It made him think back to the first adventure that had happened, when Smithy's army came out of nowhere and virtually kicked Bowser out of his castle. Mario then wondered how Mallow and Geno were doing, which led to wondering how everyone who had ever gone on an adventure with him was doing. Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry he knew since he was the local postman, Lady Bow, Watt, Sushi, and Lakilester or Spike as he originally wanted to be called, he wondered how they were and if they were happy. The same went for Goombella, Koops, Madam Flurrie, Yoshi Kid or the Great Gonzales Jr. as he likes to go by now, Vivian, Admiral Bobbery, and even Ms. Mowz. He knew Tippi, or Lady Timpani as she was properly known as, was happy now that she was with her long lost love, Blumiere, wherever they were at least they were together. He also knew that all of the other Pixels he worked with were happy since they had fulfilled their purpose and no longer had to wait oh so many thousands of years for him in particular to show up.

He needed to visit all the others the next time Bowser had a lull in his evil plans in kidnapping the princess and whatever clever adventure Bowser had laid out to stall for time in hopes to destroy him in a fair as Bowserly possible manner.

Some things never change in that regard.

Thinking of other aspects of the past calmed his mind down enough to forget the nightmare that would forever haunt him to an extent. Heh, "haunt," if it weren't for Bow he would never give Boos the benefit of the doubt again, and that fear stems from being trapped in a painting twice by King Boo, and for that he was lucky he had a brother like Luigi. Though still a little bit of a fraidy-cat and not as much of an adventurer as he was, Luigi was getting better at it and still had the courage to save him, his brother, for that Mario was forever thankful.

Finally, Mario's mind was immensely calmed by the thoughts of his brother and his friends that he was at last able to get back to sleep, leaving any thoughts to the one brazen Duplighost that had the gall to steal his identity behind. His life never had too much of a dull moment so he suspected that something was to come with the morning light. He would greet any challenge with all the optimism that he was known for, regardless of whether Fate or Destiny had any intention of putting it there.


End file.
